Mets' Starling Marte to get second opinion on groin injury
Mets' Starling Marte reacts after he struck out swinging to end an MLB baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field on Thursday, June 29, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
ST. LOUIS — Starling Marte’s nebulous groin injury needs another look.
He will seek a second opinion from a New York City-based doctor on Monday, another turn in a health saga that has rendered the rest of his season uncertain.
Manager Buck Showalter said Marte is “progressing slowly but surely” but offered little detail.
“It’s been a tough go for him and us without him,” he said before the Mets’ 7-3 loss to the Cardinals. “He was a big part of our club. He’s shown some flashes this year that reminded us what he meant to us. I’d love to see him come back and finish the year strong and make everybody feel positive about what’s going on in the offseason. Or we just identify the things we have to [do] to get him back there.”
Marte, 34, has played in only two games in the past month-plus because of migraine and groin issues, though every indication now is that his groin is the primary problem. After double groin surgery last November — an injury he played through during the second half of 2022 — he has dealt with discomfort for much of this season, during which he has looked like a shell of his usual self at the plate and in the field.
The Mets put Marte back on the injured list with a right groin strain on Aug. 7.
After this season, he has another two years remaining on his four-year, $78 million contract.
“We all get a year older,” Showalter said. “So that requires really staying on top of things. We don’t heal quite the same way sometimes.”
Extra bases
Pete Alonso’s home run off Dakota Hudson (5 2⁄3 innings, two runs) was his 39th of the year. That is third in the majors . . . The four runs Trevor Gott allowed in the seventh inning were his first since July 22. He strung together a dozen consecutive scoreless appearances in between . . . The Mets made another reliever swap, sending Vinny Nittoli back to Triple-A Syracuse and calling up Reed Garrett . . . They will keep the rotation in order for the Atlanta series: David Peterson on Monday, Tylor Megill on Tuesday and Jose Quintana on Wednesday. “As opposed to who?” Showalter quipped . . . SNY’s Keith Hernandez, sporting the signature red jacket, joined his fellow Cardinals Hall of Famers during a pregame on-field ceremony as they inducted a new class. Among the fresh honorees: Jose Oquendo, one of Hernandez’s Mets teammates in 1983-84.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
